Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Bought by Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 23.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,919 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the first quarter valued at $1,273,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter worth about $3,254,000. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Westlake by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at about $544,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $147.93 on Wednesday. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $112.77 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.61.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 105.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.00.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.